A Vision of the Future, A Vision of the Past
by OhMightyOne
Summary: In an attempt to view the past, Numair pulls people from the future back in time. Kel, some friends, some family, and some rivals are forced to live int he past until they can be sent back.
1. Unexpected Arrivals

**Disclaimer: No I do not own the world of Tortall or its inhabitants. I will, however, be creating some of my own and hoping they blend in well enough.**

**A/N: So you do not have to look them up, both of these years fall during _First Test._ They are around Midwinter holidays.**

**Chapter 1: Unexpected Arrivals**

* * *

_Winter, the 13th year of the reign of Jonathan IV, and Thayet, his Queen, 452 H.E._

Daine watched from the doorway as Numair worked on his latest project. He had been working on it for nearly two years now. It had been Sir Myles's idea at first, but Numair had volunteered his services when Sir Myles had brought the idea up. Sir Myles had been hoping for a way to better study the ancients and this project was the result of the brainstorm. Daine was not exactly sure of what the project entailed, but knew it would create some picture of the past. Numair had explained it as a sort of time-independent scrying. Though Numair was no big fan of history, he hoped to be able to view the ancient times, if only to prove that he could.

Numair's workspace was littered with parchment covered in untidy scrawl. Some contained general plans and others intricate calculations that made her head spin. None of the work seemed to be in any particular order, and truthfully Daine didn't see how Numair could get anything done efficiently. She supposed that it didn't matter, as the project was entering its final stages. In front of Numair sat a fist sized crystal. It floated, bobbing, just above the workstation, all the while emitting a faint blue-white light.

"I should be able to finish this early tomorrow. If not tonight," Numair said without turning around. His voice was not raised above a whisper. The project, at this stage, was very sensitive. Anything could disturb it.

"Finally." Daine said softly, smiling a bit; glad that she would soon have Numair to herself for a bit before he adopted a new project.

"Yes, finally," Numair repeated, still tinkering with the crystal.

"Well, I'm going to bed. It's been a long day. Try not to stay up to late, alright?" Daine said. Numair grunted and Daine knew any attempts at getting more out of him would fail miserably. She left the doorway, taking care to shut the door. It was early still, the sun had not yet fully set, and it really had been a long day.

Daine half asleep when she heard it. She sat up in bed and watched as Numair went charging down the hall. She quickly pulled on a robe over her night clothes and set out after him. She knew that the disturbance was loud enough to disrupt his work. As she ran by the workroom she heard a faint high pitched whistling. Kit was staring inside the workroom looking worried. Daine took a peek inside. The crystal was glowing a bright red and spinning, weaving, and bobbing furiously. It was the motion and magic that caused the whistling. She ran out of the room in case Numair needed help. She reached the top of the staircase in time to hear most of Numair's lecture.

"…managed to affect my current working; if it were to go astray…Except that it's not going to, because you are going to drop this and go do whatever it is pages are supposed to do at this time of night. Run along, please."(1)

Daine noticed that none of the pages left. There were five of them. Nealan of Queenscove she recognized, and Keladry. One was Lord Buchard of Stone Mountain's son, with hair like that he was easy to remember. The other two she'd seen but did not know who they were, exactly. She saw Numair frown when the pages didn't move. She stifled a small giggle, because she could tell from where she was that as much as they wanted to leave, they could not. They could hardly move beyond breathing, and even that took more effort than normal. It had to be a spell. Trust Numair to have forgotten. She was about to say something when Nealan finally managed one word. "Spell."

"Spell?" Numair asked, he looked baffled for just a moment, but then regained his composure. "Oh, yes, of course. How careless" He removed the spell. "_Now_ you may go."(2)

As three of the pages ran, Numair turned around and headed up the stairs towards Daine. It wasn't until after he turned the corner that they heard Keladry ask if they would be reported. It took all of Daine's will to keep herself from laughing when she heard Nealan answer "Master Numair? I doubt he'll remember why he left his workroom, once he gets back to it. That must be a sensitive…" (3) They never heard the rest because they had gone out of hearing range. Daine noticed that Numair looked slightly affronted, but knew that once he got back into his work, he really _would _forget all else. The problem was getting him back to his work before he decided to take revenge. Oh, Daine knew Numair wouldn't hurt the page boy, but that wouldn't keep him from a few nasty, if not embarrassing, tricks.

"Will the project be affected at all?" Daine asked, trying to get Numair back to their rooms.

"I certainly hope not. When they started acting up it was disturbed, they were practically right outside out rooms! And with all that noise they made….Its a wonder they were not stopped earlier."

"Will it have any lasting affect?"

"I don't know." They had made it to their rooms and they both headed to the workroom, Numair sticking his arm out to keep Daine from actually entering. She was a bit miffed that he would not let her enter, but knew he cared for her safety. And if he was stopping her…

There didn't seem to be any damage, the crystal had returned to the slow bobbing and was emitting the same blue-white glow. "It looks like everything is just fine." Numair pronounced. "It started glowing red earlier. I was half expecting it to be contaminated."

"I'm glad everything went alright." Daine said, "I'd hate for you to have to start all over. I'm off to bed again. Hopefully I won't be disturbed this time." This time there wasn't even a grunt in response.

* * *

_Early Spring, the 14th year of the reign of Jonathan IV, and Thayet, his Queen, 453 H.E._

Numair had finished his project almost two months before. It was now going on spring. Numair had been ready to test his latest project since the day he finished it, but the King had invited important mages and historians to the event as well as some other notable people, and it was taking them a long time to travel. True some were already in Corus, but others had been tucked away in other parts of Tortall.

The last of those invited had arrived the day before and today, finally, Numair would be able to test his creation. They were sitting in a meeting room. There was a long, rather thin, oval table. People sat intermittently around the table. Some Daine knew and some she did not. Daine saw Sir Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak, Sir Wyldon of Cavall, and Sir Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau along with Baron George, Duke Baird of Queenscove, Hirailt of Aili, and Buriram Tourakom. There was also Numair, the King and the Queen. Sir Gareth of Naxen and Sir Myles of Olau had not yet arrived. Daine didn't know any of the others except in passing, and wasn't expecting anyone else that she knew.

Once everyone had arrived, Numair took his place at one end of the table. The Jon and Thayet sat at the other end, and everyone else had been left to fend for themselves. Daine was half-way down the table with Buri on one side and a guildsman on the other.

Daine was so consumed with looking at the guests that she didn't notice when Numair began to speak. It took an elbow to her stomach, compliments of Buri, before she turned her attention to Numair. He was still explaining the reasons behind the project.

"…help us study the past. The whole project is based around the idea that if it is possible for people to see part of the future, it should be possible to see the past as well. The past should be easier to see actually, as there is no uncertainty about the facts and choices of people, which is often a problem with being able to see the future. As many of you know there is always some doubt about what a Seer can actually foretell. They can often see the most likely future, but it is not the only future, as the future depends on choices. But there is only one past. Without all the uncertainty of the material to be viewed, it is possible that the past can be viewed by using an inanimate object, such as a crystal," Numair gestured vaguely at the crystal that floated in front of him. "Whereas…"

"Why would it matter if we can see the past if it has already happened?" Someone more towards the King interrupted.

Numair looked a bit perturbed at the interruption but answered politely nonetheless. "There will be time for questions at the end, so if you could please hold on until then, it would be appreciated. But seeing as I was headed in that direction, I will entertain that particular question. The past is often as much as a mystery to us as the future, albeit it is a series of facts instead of a series of choice and chances. Take for example, the immortals. When they first entered the realm, no one had any knowledge of what they were and how to get rid of them, simply because they had not been a part of history for so long. However, before they were trapped in another realm, they were part of life here. Imagine how much easier it would have been, knowing what we were getting into. It took research to discover that. It took knowledge of the past.

"I am in no way saying that this will be the most useful tool in everyday life, but it can make life easier. The ancients knew things, and maybe they had the cure for some disease that they lack. Maybe a past war could help us fight the next war we run into. This will not be just another useless tool. Imagine if…"

Daine stopped listening after a while. She was caught in a daydream. Imagining all the things that the Numair's latest project would allow people to see. She almost grinned when she imagined that she would be able to watch Alanna thrash Ralon of Malven. Then again that would take a lot of convincing. The crystal, still nameless, was not user friendly. She would never be able to use it herself, and she'd have to convince someone else to activate it. And that was a slim chance. Most of the people who would be capable of activating it would be more concerned with _real_ history than with humoring Daine.

She listened as Numair drew to a close and as various people asked questions. She was sure she wasn't the only one who didn't understand many of the points brought up. Many of them dealt with the technical aspects of the project.

When it was finally time to activate, they had decided toe set the date to be viewed to King Jonathan's coronation, some years ago in 438 H.E. Numair began to activate the crystal, and had she not been watching his face, Daine would not have known that something was going wrong.

It started out fine, Numair had began muttering under his breath, presumably a chant, and pouring his magic into the crystal. At first it only began to grow brighter. When Numair stopped chanting and pouring magic into it, things changed. For a few moments it grew brighter and the glow began to expand out in a perfect sphere. From the side it looked flat, and Daine noticed that no matter how she moved her head, she had a perfect, seemingly flat viewing surface. It began to grow red and move about more, just like it had some months ago. Daine thought it normal as pictures began to appear on the screen.

They were fuzzy, all of the pictures were blurred beyond recognition, but they seemed to be coming into view. It was a ball, that much she could tell but she couldn't make out specific details. She heard music, above the whistling the ball was now making. It was then she looked at Numair he looked somewhat panicked. Something had gone wrong. Daine assumed he was overreacting. She couldn't tell anything was wrong. Obviously it wasn't perfect, but things could be fixed. She was about to tell Numair as much when there was a dull thud followed closely by a sharp crack. Silence followed immediately after, and once people had taken in the scene, there was screaming.

**(1) , (2), & (3): First Test, pages 168-169**


	2. Unwanted Guests

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Tortall or its inhabitants. The plot is mine though. So jolly good for me.**

**A/N: I will be adding dates after every break, because I will be jumping from time to time. In my author's notes, you will find out when this occurred by order of plot. This chapter follows immediately after the break in the last. Still in First Test.**

**Chapter 2: Unwanted Guests**

* * *

_Early Spring, the 14th year of the reign of Jonathan IV, and Thayet, his Queen, 453 H.E._

Something large had landed on the table by Numair, and the legs had given out. The people around the table acted differently. Some pushed forwards to see what happened, and some flew backwards away from potential danger. Daine was about to follow others towards the back of the room before she remembered Numair was right in the thick of it. She elbowed her way to the front of the crowd and saw a dog pile of people.

The pile diminished as most of the people stood up and started moving around. The crowd backed up, and Numair cast the spell that would freeze the guests in place, like he had done with the pages just two months before. Daine was about to speak in their defense, and explain that they probably meant no harm when she noticed that all of the men had a sword at least. She wouldn't risk anyone's life. Once the audience began to figure out that the guests couldn't move, things began to calm down. The King sent many of the people to another room, leaving only mages and warriors in the room. A smaller table was brought in to replace the broken one, and the broken one was dragged out to be repaired.

Daine studied the visitors while the change was taking place. There were four men, three women, and five children, all very young. They made no noise, and Daine knew it was because the spell was heavy and made it very hard to do so. Three men and the women were dressed in finery. By the way they stood in groups it was apparent that they were couples. By the rings on their fingers it was apparent that they were married.

One couple consisted of a muscled man with dishwater blonde hair and blue eyes. His hair was cut above the shoulders, but was long enough for him to pull back into a horsetail at the nape of his neck. He was of average height, leaning towards the shorter side. His brow was creased and his lips pursed. He looked rather upset though his body was relaxed. Daine knew he would likely be ready to fight if the purpose of this spell wasn't to make movement very difficult. The woman near him was petite. She was so pale she almost seemed sickly, and had auburn hair that cascaded down most of her back and blue-green eyes. There was nothing striking about her but she was far from unattractive. She stood, halfway between the man and an infant, no more than a couple months old, lying on the floor. She seemed to be frightened, throwing looks at the crowd before looking back at the infant, only her eyes moving. Daine could tell she was worried about the silent child. There was another child, a little girl, sitting on the floor, crying silently, and leaning against the man's leg. She seemed to be about four years old and scared out of her wits.

The male part of the second couple looked vaguely familiar. He seemed to be a bit confused, but unthreatened overall. In fact, he seemed rather comfortable with the situation. He had dark brown hair that was obviously in need of a trim, as it nearly fell into green eyes. It was also apparent that this man commanded the gift. His partner was short, and a bit plump. She had hair as black as ink that was up in an intricate bun, hiding its true length, but Daine could tell it was very long. Two shorter locks curled under her chin. Her eyes were so dark that they appeared black. The woman looked foreign, but Daine wasn't sure where she came from. Daine could not read the girl. It was obvious that she was hiding her emotions, but instead of hiding one emotion with another, she showed no emotion at all. There were two children that obviously belonged to the woman and her husband, one a boy and the other a girl. They seemed to be the same age, so Daine assumed that they were twins. They were younger than the oldest child of the first couple, but not by too much. The twins were trying to imitate their mother's emotionless state, but if Daine looked carefully, she could see tears building up behind their eyes.

The last couple consisted of a thin man. He was no twig, but though he had muscle, Daine knew immediately he was no warrior. He did, however, carry a sword like the other men. He seemed to be the most upset. By no means was he panicking, but he was worried, and it was noticeable. He had light brown hair that was cut above his ears and brown eyes. His skin was pale, but not ghostly white as the first girl's skin. He topped his partner by about an inch. He was around average height but she was tall for a girl. She had light brown hair, lighter even, than her husband's, but not by much. The hair hung loose and just brushed her shoulders. Her eyes were large and brown, and she was tanned and freckled. This woman seemed to be masking her emotions as well. Sitting on one of the man's feet was a young boy, not yet two years old. He looked like he had been crying earlier, but had recently stopped.

The fourth man, the only unmarried man, was dressed in everyday clothes, but it was apparent he was noble, or at least rather wealthy. He had a mean look about him. His hair was long and pulled back and his eyes were a dark blue color. Unlike the first man, who seemed to be on guard, but not hostile, this man would have been ready to attack if the energy that he would have had to expend was not such a tremendous amount.

Finally when, the small council room was set up, the people were to be released from their bondage. Seven chairs were brought in, as well as some tumbling mats. The mages lined the chairs up in a semi circle where Numair had been standing. Each chair faced the King and Queen. The chairs were separated into two groups, a group of three and a group of four. The group of four was placed closest to the center of the table, while the group of three was off to the side just a bit. They were all in sight, and focused around the table, but the group of four chairs was easily more visible than the group of three. It was obvious that the four who sat in those chairs would be held under more suspicion than the three in the other chairs. The tumbling mat was placed in front of the group of three chairs.

Two mages entered the spell's field, unaffected, and led the three women to the chairs. As the women sat, some of the men sighed in relief. It was obvious that they felt beyond aggravated about having no say in what happened to their wives. Daine was upset that the women were so easily shoved off to the side when she knew that women could be just as dangerous as men. She then realized that none of the women seemed to be armed, and they, in fact, appeared to be no more than regular court ladies. The men were then seated in the four seats. At this point the adults were partially released from their bonds. They would be capable of talking and moving their upper bodies to a certain degree, but the lower half remained immobilized. The mages then took the children, with the only exception being the infant, and placed them on the mats before releasing them entirely from the spell. The infant was placed, squalling into its mother's arms. The mother looked very relieved. One of the twins, the girl, immediately began to rush to her father, but the moment she stepped off the mat, she was immobilized once more. The mage picked her up and placed her back on the mat.

"Now," King Jonathan began, "we apologize for the bondage, but until we are sure that you present no risk to the people here, you will remain bound. We do, however, promise that so long as you prove to be no threat, you will remain unharmed. Furthermore, you're children will not be harmed at all. It that understood?" The captive adults all bowed their heads in agreement, and some answered with a polite "Yes, Your Majesty". Jon smiled and continued. "We all know how you got here, from our point of view. Explain yours."

* * *

_Early Spring, the 14th year of the reign of Jonathan IV, and Thayet, his Queen, 453 H.E._

Kel could not believe what was happening. One moment she had been dancing with Aiden and worrying about Mikale, the next she had been slammed into the floor and then held captive by a spell. She looked around while King Jonathan ordered some people out, and had a different table brought in. To her left were Neal, Yuki and the twins. To the right stood Garvey of Runnerspring, a woman that Kel assumed was his wife, and their two children. Further down past Garvey was a man she had not seen in a while. He was not easily recognizable at first, but with time, Kel knew that it was Vinson of Genlith.

Kel then turned her attention to those unaffected by the spell that made it so impossible to move. She recognized most of the people, if only in passing, and wondered how they had appeared in the room. Some had not even been present at court while others had been in the ballroom just moments before. It had to be some sort of magic, and since no one was doing magic in the ballroom, it had to have been the people gathered around them. They, however, did not seem to expect company, leading Kel to believe that something had gone grievously wrong.

Neal looked nothing short of amused, and that calmed Kel down somewhat. If he wasn't worried about the magic, she would not be either. Yuki looked worried, but not overly so, she was wearing the Yamani mask, but was not as closed off as she would have been if she had been overly worried. Aiden was not able to hide his fear, and she knew why he was scared. He was good when it came to weapons, courtesy of having Lord Wyldon of Cavall as a father, but he was a scholar and had never actually seen real battle. Garvey was on the defense, his wife stuck in the open, and Vinson was ready to attack. All the children were upset, except for Mikale. They cried silently as making any noise was difficult. Mikale sat happily on Aiden's foot, his eyes red from the crying he had done earlier. Kel had left him with a nursemaid so that she could make an appearance at the ball, thrown in celebration of the naming of Roald's third child and first daughter. He had put up a fight, not wanting his Mama and Papa to leave him with the nursemaid at all. He was content that he was with her again.

The people outside the spell were conversing quietly. Kel figured they were trying to figure out what had gone wrong and what to do. Kel hoped they would figure it out soon. She was confused. She had just seen some of these people, and now they stared as if they didn't recognize her, or any of the others. And furthermore, they seemed to be different. Younger. And that made Kel wonder all the more what had happened.

Finally some chairs were brought in as well as a tumble mat that was usually used for fighting in the palace. She watched as the chairs were set up and all the women, including herself, were helped into the chairs. Then the men were brought to their chairs, and the children were left on the mat. She was upset when only the children were freed from bondage, as she knew what kind of trouble they could get into if no one stopped them. She was, to say the least, relieve when Hanamiyo, was frozen as soon as she left the mat. She nearly laughed at the shocked look on the little girl's face. One of the men lifted her and sat her down next to her brother, Asaharu.

It was that the King began to speak. As she listened she only grew more confused, then ashamed. She had no once thought that those people might harm the children. Had they wanted to the children could have been all but dead, and she was worrying about them running about the room! It wasn't until Neal began to speak that Kel remembered that the king had asked a question.

"We were at the ball, my wife and I were dancing, the twins were staying with a maid in the rooms. One moment we're in the ballroom, the next thing we know there is red light, magic of some sort, and now we're here. That's all there is to it Sire." Most of the others nodded in agreement. Vinson was the only one who did not.

"And you?" the King asked when he saw that Vinson had not nodded.

"I was home, doing paperwork. Otherwise the story is the same." Vinson looked pained to be agreeing with the others.

"Nothing spectacular has happened lately? Something outrageously abnormal?" The King asked. Everyone shook their heads. "What was the ball for?"

No one answered at first. Shouldn't the king remember if something abnormal happened, or the birth of his eldest son's third child? Finally when no one answered, Kel spoke up cautiously. "Your Majesty, it was a ball to celebrate the naming of your granddaughter."

The King blinked once, twice, three times. "My children are not old enough to have children. You must be mistaken."

Garvey spoke up. Though he felt nothing for most of the captives, he was interested in saving his own skin. "Prince Roald is nearly thirty, Sire." The room looked at him as though he was crazy.

"Thirty?" The king repeated.

"Yes, Sir," The captured group assured him. Neal decided to add on. "Technically he is only twenty-eight."

The king was silent, obviously deep in thought. "Fifteen." He said suddenly. The room turned to look at him. "Roald will not be twenty-eight for fifteen more years."

At this Sir Gareth of Naxen chose to speak up. "We were attempting to look fifteen years into the past. It may be possible that we pulled people from the future fifteen years back."

Kel saw Neal's eyes widen in understanding. And figured if he believed the group in front of them, she could as well. After all, they apparently meant no harm, or they'd have been hurt already. Instead, they had only been temporarily paralyzed by magic. A method of defense in this case. The people in the room were not prepared for surprises like this, and most knew that not all surprises were good things.

The rest of the unbound group took the idea into consideration. "Why would it do that?" Alanna asked, turning to Numair. "What went wrong?"

Numair looked thoughtful. "Nothing in the activation, that much I'm sure of. But something had to have gone wrong somewhere."

"Daine?" Alanna asked. "You were there most of the time, any idea why it didn't work?"

Kel saw Daine shake her head quickly. "I can't really say. I don't know how it was supposed to work. Or what kind of work went into it."

Everyone at the table nodded, accepting the answer. There was silence once more as everyone tried to think of what could have caused such a reaction.

A man Kel recognized as Hirailt of Aili spoke up. "It is sensitive magic. There were not major disturbances during the activation, what about during the creation?"

Numair shook his head and opened his mouth to reply negatively when Daine suddenly shouted "Yes!"

Everyone turned to look at Daine and Kel noticed a slight blush spread over her face, and watched as Daine ducked her head. "Well?" Lord Wyldon asked once it became apparent that she wasn't going to answer.

Daine hesitated even more before answering uncertainly. "A handful of pages got into a fight."

Kel watched as Numair adopted a thoughtful look. She knew now that if he didn't make an effort to remember something as it occurred, he probably wouldn't remember it immediately. "Oh." Numair said quietly, it was obvious he recalled the fight and agreed that it was likely the reason for the current predicament. Kel wondered briefly how a handful of pages could mess something up so badly. "I remember. Queenscove and the girl. Three others. They aren't in the classes for the gifted, and don't stand out as much as her, so I'm not sure of their names. I stopped them and sent them off."

"When was this?" The king asked.

"The night that the project was finished. Two months ago." Numair answered. "When it didn't show any permanent adverse affects, I didn't give it a second thought."

"Do you remember the fight?" The King asked Lord Wyldon.

"The probationer and her group have not been fighting as much lately, but about two months ago, if I remember correctly, they were at each other almost constantly." Lord Wyldon said carefully.

"Is it possible that the pages could have caused this reaction with the magic?" The Queen asked.

No one answered immediately, but Kel could tell that most of the mages were contemplating the possibilities. It was Alanna who spoke next. There isn't much we can speculate about if we don't know how the crystal was made."

"It is possible." Numair said. "But the most likely outcome would be that the pages were linked to the crystal."

"Linked how?" This was asked by someone Kel didn't know.

"I am no positive. It will require research." Numair said.

"Fine. I want every available mage on the case though." The King said. Meanwhile the guests will be put up and guarded. I want volunteers to accompany them to their rooms. At least one mage, there is one gifted person among them."

Kel, though she was not well versed in the rules of the gift, knew exactly why some of the people were brought back. She was bright enough to realize that each member of that fight, it stood out vividly in her mind now, being the only one broken up by Numair, was here with a spouse and children if there were any. The only one missing was Joren and he was dead. If she had known her fighting would have gotten her into this kind of mess she might not have fought. No, she knew that was a lie, she'd just have been careful to avoid any highly magical areas.

Kel and Aiden were given a set of rooms. They were not too fancy, like those for high ranked guests, but they were a far cry from page's and squire's rooms. They were similar to her rooms as a knight, but a bit more elegant. They were obviously guest quarters meant for lower ranking nobles. They were also rather isolated. Kel knew that some parts of the palace were used only when there a great many people residing at court. This usually occurred when holidays fell around certain events like royal marriage, births, and coronations. The reason, Kel suspected, that these were given to the visitors was because it was isolated and easily guarded. They were too high up to go out a window, and there was only one other exit off the hallway. A set of giant double doors where guards were posted. The time travelers were given rooms at the very end of the hall, so that the guards would be well aware of any approach.

Before they were left alone, Sir Gareth made an announcement that if they needed something they should send one, and only one, person to the guards with a note. They would be brought three meals a day and provided clothing and other necessities. They were allowed to visit each other but not allowed to leave the hallway. As Sir Gareth left Kel and Aiden headed over to Neal's rooms to figure out what exactly was going on, and what they were going to do.


	3. A New Friend

**Disclaimer: Don't own the characters. They belong solely to Tamora Pierce. I just happen to be borrowing them**

**A/N: This takes place in Squire, after Neal shows up on the progress and tried to catch the Yamani fan, but before Kel's first joust. If you want a better reference it occurs at the beginning of chapter eleven ("Cleon"). Basically while "The progress crawled south, then east."**

**Chapter three: A New Friend

* * *

**

_Spring, the 18th year of the reign of Jonathan IV, and Thayet, his Queen, 457 H.E._

Kel was in a relatively bad mood. She could not pinpoint an exact cause, but her day, thus far, had not been great, to say the least. The moment she woke up things seemed to have been going wrong. When practicing her glaive she nicked herself. There was no serious injury, but she hadn't cut herself on the blade in years. Later, when feeding the griffin, she'd nearly lost a finger because she was too busy fretting over her glaive practice to pay attention.

Lord Raoul then had to send her to a healer. Unluckily for her, when she arrived at the healer's tent the only healer with the progress that was advanced enough with tricky areas, like fingers, was out. Another healer patched her up enough so that when Duke Baird did show, he would be able to care for her finger. She did appreciate the irony of the fact that she was waiting for Duke Baird to fix her finger when just a few days ago she was telling Neal how Duke Baird would not be able to reattach his fingers if the fan had cut it off.

After Kel was assured she would regain full use of her fingers, she spent two hours waiting for Duke Baird, who was, apparently, with another patient. A woman in the nearby town had gone into an early labor last night and was having problems. The midwife was visiting a relative and wasn't due back for two days.

When Kel was finally healed, she left the tent, she was both tired and hungry. Knowing she'd regret it if she slept first, she headed off to find something to eat. That, at least, was uneventful. It wasn't until after she woke from her nap that she began to feel sick. She was abed for a good while, waiting for her stomach to settle. It didn't. When a healer from the own was brought in, he assured Raoul that Kel would be fine, but someone had slipped some sort of poison into her food. Not early enough, he said, to even risk killing Kel, but enough to keep her feeling miserable for a day or so. He suggested she go outside, where the fresh air might do her some good. Kel took his advice and grabbed a book that Lord Raoul had suggested she read. She headed out of the cam and settled against a tree at the edge of the nearby forest.

Now Kel, only a quarter of the way through the book, was desperately wishing her friends were somewhere nearby. As it happened the only squire friend that didn't have a rather busy workload was Neal. However, Neal, who had arrived just a few days ago, was off trying to apologize to Yuki for scaring her when he first arrived. Kel knew that Yuki wouldn't forgive him just yet, and tried to tell him as much but he refused to listen. She may cool off pretty quickly, as Kel had told her friend, but it did not mean she would forgive him without making Neal sweat a little.

Kel decided, finally, to just head back to the tent. She used the tree she had been leaning against to get up, and as she stumbled to her feet, she hit something. Or rather, something hit her, sending her to the ground. Looking up, she saw a young man, her height, with light brown hair. He wore a brown tunic and brown leggings, with a white undershirt. In one hand he held a thick book. The other hand, which was empty, was extended to Kel. She grabbed it and he pulled her up. With a slight smile he said "I'd like to apologize. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," he waved the hand with the book in it, "I was slightly distracted."

"A bit more than slightly." Kel said with a frown, in no mood to play nice.

The smile slipped off the young man's face slowly. He blinked a couple of times before replying . "Yes, you're quite right." He said, once he realized that Kel was not taking the hit as lightly as he was. "I'm sorry, again." He whispered almost dejectedly, before continuing on his way.

Kel groaned lightly, feeling worse than she had before. She trotted after him, when she caught up, she saw that his head was bent over his open book. "See," she said quietly, by way of apology for her bitter mood, "that is why you're crashing into people." The man stopped and looked her in the eye. He didn't say a word. Kel sighed inwardly. "I apologize for being so rude. I've been in a dreadful mood all day, and I just let it take control of my tongue."

The man smiled. "Well, then, that is alright I suppose. Everyone has those days every now and again." Suddenly he turned to face her, and said mockingly, "Just don't go making a habit of it." It reminded Kel of a lecture she had received from one of her aunts, about proper conduct. Despite herself Kel smiled a little, she wasn't sure why, as she didn't think it was all that funny. Nonetheless she started to laugh. She stopped almost immediately and groaned as she threw an arm over her upset stomach protectively. "Ah, you're stomach then? That is enough to throw anyone into an off day." Kel only hummed in response. "Aiden, by the way." He said, holding out a hand.

"Kel." Kel replied, shaking the hand lightly.

"Very nice to meet you Kel. So where were you heading before I ran right through you?"

"Back to my tent."

"This early?"

"I'm not feeling very well. And I've got to return my book to my Knight Master before I go anywhere else anyhow."

"Knight Master? You're Keladry of Mindelan?"

"Yes to both." Kel said.

"Oh." There was a long pause. "So…what are you reading?" He asked. Kel could tell it was a desperate attempt to keep the conversation going. She was almost insulted that he seemed to get on fine with her until he found out she was a squire. Even so, she held out the book for inspection. "I'm reading the same thing!" He held out his book proudly in both hands with a grin. He reminded Kel of her nieces and nephews presenting a drawing. She giggled a little at the thought. She noticed that he deflated a bit as she did.

"You like history then?" She asked.

"More than life itself. Well maybe not more than life itself, because I'd rather be alive, you know? But that isn't the point history is great it's… it's great. No, it is more than great it's…" He spoke rapidly, jumbling words together in his excitement. As he stumbled over a way to describe history, he suddenly blushed a little, then continued on in a more sedated and composed manner. "I tend to ramble at times. The point was I like history. I'm studying it, at the University. I find history of all sorts interesting. But stuff like this, military history, battles and such…Those are fascinating. Nothing better."

Kel did manage to refrain from showing that she was amused by his chatter, and managed to answer in manner matching his new, collected state. "I'm not a big fan of history in general, but I enjoy military history as well. I could spend forever going over every "what if" I can think of."

"I know exactly what you mean. Like the battle at Port Legann, it's not described in this book, obviously, but…I'm sorry, I was about to start in on history. You'd not have been able to shut me up."

"Think nothing of it," Kel replied, "It was actually the battle at Legann that first got me interested. Lord Wyldon began these, Lord Wyldon of Cavall that is, the Training…"

"I'm familiar with him, continue."

"Oh." Kel said, "Well, Lord Wyldon began these lessons during my third year as a page. The whole of the lessons were basically discussing tactics and strategies of past battles. Port Legann was the first. I loved those classes. None of my friends really like them but," she shrugged, "I did." Kel was desperately wondering why she didn't just close her mouth. She never talked this much. Granted, Aiden didn't seem to be bothered, bu Kel was beginning to picture him as overly optimistic. She, as of this point, couldn't see him as getting worked up or upset over something like a girl who talked too much. Kel decided talking couldn't hurt; besides, Aiden shared her interest in military history. Kel's love of this sort of history was one few people she knew seemed to share. Few people she had met were willing to discuss the topic with her, either being much older than her, and therefore unwilling to socialize, or they were just not interested in the topic. So long as he didn't mind talking, Kel didn't mind either.

The battle at Port Legann was dissected some before the two started in on the book. It was one of the most interesting things that had occurred as of late, in Kel's opinion. She had, during the discussions, forgot how sick she truly felt. They had also managed to move the discussion from the edge of the forest to a group of boulders not far outside the campsite. Before either person knew it, the camp had settled down for the evening, people were crowded around glowing fire pits, chatting, and the sun had set. "I'd better go." Kel told Aiden, "It was nice meeting you."

"And you." Aiden said, "Perhaps…" He dragged out the word.

"Yes?" Kel prompted.

"Nothing." Aiden said, shaking his head. "Good night Kel."

"G'night" Kel said, stifling a yawn. "I didn't realize I was tired."

"It happens."

"Yeah, well, good night." Kel said, once more, intending to turn back to the camp, but she never did.

"The same."

"Yeah." Kel said.

"One of us should probably head back, else we'll be here all night and eventually have to start wishing each other a good morning. Which it wouldn't be, because we would have stayed up all night, and would, as a result be very grumpy. Being the wonderful gentleman that I am, I will make the sacrifice and take the first step." And he did. Kel laughed and fell in step beside him. They walked back to the camp in silence. Once they reached a parting they wished each other good night for the last time and went their separate ways.

Kel went to bed that night hoping, for the first time, that the Own did not get called off. She, without a doubt, intended to go looking for Aiden tomorrow ifshe had time. It was then that she realized that she had no idea who he was and how to find him. She desperately hoped that he had enjoyed the conversation as much as her and would, perhaps, pay a visit, as he knew how to find her.


	4. First Days

**Disclaimer: T. Pierce owns Tortall and it's inhabitants. Get used to it.**

**A/N: This takes place in Page. Starting directly after chapter 2. It ends just a few days later.**

**Chapter 4: First Days

* * *

**

_Early Spring, the 14th year of the reign of Jonathan IV, and Thayet, his Queen, 453 H.E._

Kel, Aiden, Yuki, and Neal sat around a table by the window, dinner had been brought to the rooms and the kids had already eaten and were now playing quietly in the other room, for now. They all knew what they had come to talk about, but no one wanted to start. So, for the moment, they were all content to listen to the giggles coming from the other room. It was Neal who finally broke the near silence. Swallowing the bite he had taken he asked, "So…do you think we should tell them who we are?"

"I don't think we'll have much a choice," Aiden replied, setting down his fork, "Besides, they're looking at the crystal thing. Eventually they'll figure it out." The two women nodded agreement. They knew Numair had said that the pages would be linked to the crystal. It was not much of a leap from knowing that the pages are connected to the crystal to learning it was the pages that were pulled back in time.

"I'm not so sure. I can see where they may get confused. There were only five pages in the fight. Twelve people were pulled back, and not all of us were pages. That will take some explaining." Neal said, after pausing to consider what Aiden had said.

"I can understand that you two," Yuki gestured to Neal and Kel, "were pulled back, but what about the rest of us. I was nowhere near the palace fifteen years ago. I wasn't even in Tortall fifteen years ago. I can't be connected to the crystal."

"I was still at the University." Aiden volunteered. "I don't see how, if their theory is correct, anyone but the pages would be pulled back. But then, I'm a History Master. I don't claim to know much of anything about magic."

Everyone turned to look at Neal, as he was the only one that was familiar enough with the Gift and working magic to even put forth an idea. "I'm not sure." Neal said, "But it stands to reason that if Kel and I were brought back due to a magical connection to that crystal that both of you and the children were brought back by some magical connection as well. We've already established that you two were not near the crystal at the time, so you aren't likely connected to that. Hence, the most likely source of your travel back, and the children is a magical connection of some sort to one of the pages involved in the confrontation."

"What kind of magic would do that?" Kel asked.

When Neal and Yuki both shrugged, the people around the table fell silent. "I think…" Aiden said, capturing everyone's attention, he shook his head, as if deciding against something and asked "Does it have to be a strong connection?"

Neal closed his eyes as he thought, "I don't think so. Anything would do. If I'm right about a magical connection, the crystal, being such strong magic, could possibly strengthen, temporarily, the connections that were already in existence. Why?"

"It's something that some professor may have mentioned it in passing. Mated couples of any species, including humans, have a weak magical connection. Wild magic, that is, nothing like the gift."

Neal looked at Aiden. "I think I've heard something similar. I don't know where though. I don't know about the children though, they don't fit in, not with that theory. It could have been a parent-child bond, but…"

"Our parents would have been pulled back as well?" Kel asked.

"Maybe." Neal said. "The thing is, it could be that the crystal just wasn't strong enough to pull back our parents as well as our children. But if that was the case, we would more likely be seeing a mix of generations, depending on how strong the bond between people happens to be, rather than just our children."

No one had anything to say in response to that. Before the silence got uncomfortable there was a knock on the front door. It was Neal who got up to answer it. There was a guard at the door. "The tailor is set up. You will all be taken now to get fitted. Please follow."

The tailors, for there were two, were set up at the front of the hallway, in unused chambers. The chambers had two bedrooms, being used for the fittings, and a privy all attached to a main sitting room. Yuki and Kel were asked to bring the children up first. Kel watched the tailor sized Mikale up with his eyes and hand her two sets of un-dyed children's clothing, one for sleeping, and one for daywear. The tailor then asked Kel to step up on the pedestal and he began to measure her. After her measurements were taken, he handed over a set of nightclothes for herself, and a loose dress with leggings. It was the type of dress people wore when they could not afford to buy full closets of fitted clothes. It would hang straight off of the shoulders only brought in by a belt or sash, which Kel was also provided with. Kel knew she would be more comfortable in a tunic and breeches, and was about to ask for some of those in place of the dress. However, as soon as she opened her mouth to speak, the tailor cut her off.

"Those will have to do my Lady. The King has ordered one week's worth of clothing for each person to be made, but we will not have any done until tomorrow. The King has ordered that the clothes be dyed in the fief's colors and to be fitted. They will be everyday winter-wear. Those are the King's orders and I refuse to disobey them. If you have a problem, bring it up with him. I will get the colors from your husband, and start on the clothing tonight. You will be able to pick them up two bells before the mid-day meal tomorrow."

I took Kel until about halfway through his rant to realize that he thought she was about to complain about the quality and color of the dress he hand handed her. She decided to try and ask once more. "It isn't that sir, it's just…"

"The Kings orders were seven dresses for the ladies, seven pairs of tunics and breeches for the gents, and two sets of night clothes for each person. In the fief's colors. You will get what I, and by extension, the King, give to you."

He opened the door and showed her to the sitting room then gestured for Aiden to follow him to into the bedroom. This left only Kel, Yuki and the three children alone in the sitting room. Apparently Neal was already being fitted in the other bedroom. Yuki was sitting on a chair that had its back to the wall, with Asaharu curled up in her lap, asleep. Hanamiyo sat against the wall, tracing the outline of the stones. Kel walked over and put Mikale, who was squirming in an attempt to get Kel to place him with his favorite "cousin", down next to her. "Don't pull Hana's hair." Kel warned him gently before going to sit with Yuki.

"How long do you think he'll last?" Yuki asked, knowing of Mikale's fondness of pulling hair.

"Not long," Kel said regretfully. "He hasn't pulled anyone's hair since we got here. It is just a matter of time." Surely enough, as soon as Kel finished the sentence, Hana started to yell. This ended up waking Haru, who hearing his sister scream started to scream as well. Mikale just squealed, obviously amused at the reaction.

As Yuki tried to calm her children, the door to the hallway was jerked open. Vinson, Garvey, and Garvey's wife walked into the room. Garvey carried the older child on his hip, her head was on his shoulder and it was obvious that she was about ready for bed. The infant, cradled by the mother appeared to be asleep. As they entered, the guards shut the door and, presumably, continued to guard the hallway entrance.

"This is your fault!" Vinson hissed immediately, striding towards Kel.

"And how did you come by that conclusion?" Kel asked, and knowing he spoke about the time travel ordeal continued with, "I didn't fight by myself."

"We wouldn't have been fighting at all if you would have realized years ago that you were a girl!" Garvey said.

"I knew then that I was a girl, and I know it now. So I fail to see how our current situation is my fault."

"You should never have been at the palace." Garvey finished, as if that were the only possible answer.

"You are entitled to you own opinion, I suppose. But it does not make this my fault. You were part of the fight willingly. I did not force you to fight me."

"So you're blaming this on me?"

"I am blaming this on no one." Kel stated, "I am merely pointing out that I am not to blame for our current predicament."

"But you were the reason we were fighting." Vinson said.

"It may have been my ideas about your behavior that sparked the fight, but neither I nor my ideas made you fight. You could have released the page and been on your way, but you chose not to. I did not force you to fight. I could not have forced you. It was your own free will that got you into that fight. It may be true that had I not been there the fight may never have occurred, but it is a lie to say that the fight was my fault." Kel said.

"I fail to see how that makes sense," Garvey stated, "If the fight would never have occurred had you not been there, it must be you fault."

"The fight would never have occurred if your lot hadn't been there. Does that make this your fault? It would only have been my fault if it would have happened no matter who my opponents happened to be. It would be your fault if it would have occurred with anyone. Both cases are wrong. We would really have only fought with each other, or like-minded people. And if that makes this situation the combined fault of all five of the present pages, then so be it!"

Neither man had anything to say to that, but Kel could tell that they still did not believe her. Kel picked up Mikale, who was by now standing at her feet, clutching the skirt of her dress in his fists, and returned to her chair to wait for Aiden. No one said anything until Neal exited the room, carrying his clothes for the night. Garvey's wife was asked to bring in the children.

When Aiden exited the bedroom, both families were escorted back to their bedchambers. They had originally planned to return to Neal's room to talk, but seeing how tired the children were getting, they merely returned to their separate chambers and prepared for bed.

The time travelers were left to their own devices for three days before they were called to appear before again. It had been a long, boring three days. They had not been allowed to leave the hallway. Meals were brought in three times a day, and a bath for each person as well. The clothes that the king had ordered had arrived in pieces. One set on the first day, and the rest on the second.

Most of the day was spent trying to entertain the children, who were bored with no toys to play with. There was almost nothing in the rooms to capture their attention. The desks were empty, the wardrobe held only the clothes that had been delivered, and the shelves were bare. The only items that didn't come with the rooms were the things that the travelers had arrived with. Clothes, and weapons for some.

On the plus side, while keeping the children entertained was at time frustrating to the adults, it was a valid excuse for avoiding the other half of the group. In truth, there had been no sign of Vinson or Garvey and his family since the day at the tailors. When the children were occupying themselves, or asleep, the adults spent their time relaxing before they were called to duty once more by the children. Sometimes when they were bored, Kel and Yuki would attempt to teach Aiden and Neal how to play fan toss, but the lesson never went well. The usual training that ladies received consisted of attempting to play with a blunt, but heavy practice fan. A mistake then would mean a bruise, perhaps. With the real fan, the one Yuki had carried to the ball, a mistake would be much more debilitating.

Nevertheless, the three days passed, and now the entire group stood waiting for the escorts to arrive. When the escort arrived, it was led by Sir Gareth of Naxen. The escort consisted of five guards and two mages. Obviously, the king still found them to be potentially dangerous.

The group was brought to a room not far from their hallway. It was similar to the one they had arrived in. It was empty but for two tables, one in a squared U-shape and the other a rectangular table; some chairs, seven at the smaller rectangular table and too many to count at the U-shaped table; and a tumbling mat in the corner of the room, it had a small collection of toys against one wall.

One of the mages that accompanied them asked that the children, with the exception of the infant, be placed on the mat. Once all of the children were on the mat, the mage made a quick motion with his arm. "It will stop them from being able to run about the room, like last time." He explained before anyone could ask. He then led them to sit down at the small rectangular table.

Once Kel sat down, she felt a bit more at ease. The rectangular table that they were seated at was about the same width as the connecting piece of the U-shaped table. The connecting piece was the farthest piece of the U-shaped table from where the time travelers sat. It held two throne-like chairs, and four regular chairs. If the smaller rectangular table was pushed forward it looked like it would fit comfortably between the two side pieces, creating a rectangle table with a large space at the center. As it was, there was a space between the U-table and the rectangular table, enough for someone to walk through easily. It was obvious they were to be questioned, not interrogated as though they were criminals. As the travelers examined the room, people began to trickle in.

It was almost half bell's time before the last of the questioners arrived. Everyone stood as the King and Queen entered, taking their place at the head of the U-shaped table. Once everyone was seated again, the King called for Numair to present the mages' findings.

Numair got up and proceeded to the small rectangular table. Once there, he centered himself in front of it so that he was standing in front of the King and Queen, but everyone had a good view of him, save the time travelers. "After a good deal of close examination, we are relatively sure that these people were brought back in time due to the accident with the pages. All notes show that the crystal worked as expected in its unfinished state when it was tested last before its completion. This was about," he shuffled through a stack of papers for a moment, "two days prior to the completion.

"When the page fight occurred, the crystal, reportedly, glowed red and reacted violently. It was not recorded because crystal passed the next test without a hitch. Nonetheless, there was, obviously, a problem. While that leads to the question as to why it functioned properly the first few times it was used, and not when being demonstrated to a more public eye, it is more important at this time, to explain what we believed happened.

"The first theory is that the crystal would bring the five pages back in time. As you can tell," Numair motioned to the people sitting behind him, "there are more than five people present. The next likely theory is that at some point in time there was another disruption that linked the perpetrators to the crystal, and then pull them in from the future. The problem is, they would all have needed to be present, and the children, at that point in time, did not exist. Any theory after that depends on a disturbance and a random reaction that just happened to bring back these particular people. No one quite believes that one, it is seen as too much of a coincidence that three entire families were brought back, instead of random people.

"We may have a few theories, but we are not sure of the exact happenings. I think that at this point it would be prudent to ask that our guests introduce themselves, and tell us what they were doing at this point in their lives. We hope that this may help us discover what, exactly, took place." Numair, at this point walked back to his chair and sat down. The room was silent until the King stood.

"I believe that is a good idea." He motioned towards Vinson, who sat at the far left of the small table. "You start. Please tell us you name and fief and where you were in the year 453."

"Vinson stood and, after bowing, introduced himself. "Vinson, Sire, Vinson of Genlith. I was studying as a page."

This made the King blink. "Were you involved in the page fight? The one that is suspected to have been the reason behind the time travel?"

"Yes, Sire."

"And the others?"

"Not all of them."

"Not all of the fighters are present? Or not all of those present are part of the fighters?"

Vinson paused for a moment to think. "Both, Majesty." No one said anything for a moment.

"Who is missing?" Lord Wyldon asked when it became apparent no one else was going to speak.

"Only Joren of Stone Mountain."

"So the other four pages are present?" The King asked. Vinson nodded uncertainly. "Why was Stone Mountain not brought back with the rest of you?"

Vinson looked reluctant to say anything. The King, however, still wanted an answer. It was Neal who finally spoke, causing some people to jump. "He's dead." The room fell silent for a moment. Kel could tell some people wanted to say something, but they did not want to be the ones to break the uncomfortable silence that had fallen.

It was a man that Kel was unfamiliar with that finally broke the silence. "If I may ask," he began, "how did he…?" He drew out the last word, making it apparent that he didn't want to actually finish the question, but expected it to be answered nonetheless.

None of the travelers wanted to answer. Kel wasn't sure why the others didn't answer, but she knew why she didn't. Failing the ordeal was, obviously, not something to be proud of. Kel knew that if the people of this time knew Joren had failed, they would not look at him the same way, they would treat him differently knowing his future, and Kel wouldn't wish that on anyone.

When it became apparent to those gathered that no one would answer, people began to get restless. Kel knew that the silence increased the curiosity of those that didn't know. It was again Neal who answered. "They found his corpse. The," here Neal hesitated slightly, looking for the right word, "_attack_ was expected. His death was not. It was magic that killed him." It seemed to Kel that Neal felt the same way she did about the matter, and she felt he did a good job of explaining his death without details. She was not sure if the audience would take it, but seeing as no one said anything she assumed they were satisfied.

The King motioned for the next person to stand. The next person turned out to be Garvey's wife. It was Garvey who stood, however. "I am Sir Garvey of Runnerspring. I was also a page. This is my wife, she was at the convent." When the king nodded, Garvey resumed his seat.

Neal stood as Garvey took his seat. "I am Sir Neal of…"

"Nealan" Yuki corrected him.

Neal rolled his eyes. "Excuse me, Sir _Nealan_ of Queenscove. My wife," He gestured to Yuki, "Is Yukimi of Queenscove, formerly Yukimi noh Daiomoru. I was a page, and she resided on the Yamani Islands." He sat down and the room was silent.

The silence gave way to a low rumble, as everyone began to converse between themselves all at once. Kel could guess why, the heir of one of the oldest noble families in Tortall was sitting in front of them. Neal's family was well known and well respected. Many nobles secretly, and some not-so-secretly, hoped to climb the social ladder by marrying a daughter into Neal's family. So they were shocked to not only see the heir to such a prominent family tangled up in the mess, but to also come to see that their daughters would, in fact not be marrying into the Queenscove line.

When the voices faded to silence, Aiden stood. Every head turned towards him. "My name is Aiden of Cavall, I studied History at the University. This is my wife Lady Knight Keladry of Cavall. She was a page." There was silence for a moment, then the room erupted into a cacophony of voices, each one trying to be heard above the next.


End file.
